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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Insider interviewed 21 of <keyword id="4142242" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="matt-gaetz">Matt Gaetz</keyword>'s former high school classmates.</li><li>Some of them aren't surprised by the scandals spilling out now.</li><li>They're texting each other about him and gossipping in a <keyword id="6354576" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword> alumni group.</li></ul>Back in the late 1990s at <keyword id="6357385" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="florida">Florida</keyword>'s <keyword id="11111124" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="niceville-high-school">Niceville High School</keyword>, Matt Gaetz had a reputation as a know-it-all who talked over his peers and obsessed over wealth and social status, according to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/matt-gaetz-high-school-niceville-alumni-debate-facebook-2021-4?r=gaetz-teaser">Insider interviews with his former classmates</a>. Gaetz once bragged in high school that he had a friend whose family was so wealthy that the friend used the seatbelt from his dad's old private jet as a belt for his pants, his former debate teammate said. The Florida Republican congressman's high school classmates are dishing about him to Insider and gossipping about him on their Facebook alumni group - one Beavis and Butt-Head meme is particularly stinging - now that Gaetz's <keyword id="6445177" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sex-Scandal">sex scandal</keyword> is dominating headlines and cable news shows. Gaetz is the subject of a <keyword id="99225" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Justice-Department">Justice Department</keyword> sex trafficking investigation; he denies that he acted illegally. In middle school, Gaetz got into a fight with a teacher about the definition of "archipelago." Gaetz went home and made copies of what he thought the definition was, his former classmate said, then he plastered them all over the teacher's door. "I've met people like Matt and it's one of those things that every once in a while you'd go, 'Oh, maybe I'm reading this wrong.' And then two seconds later you'd go 'Oh, no, he's just an asshole,'" said Kira Bloechl, a former Gaetz classmate who hung out with him during his debate club days. Insider interviewed 21 former Gaetz high school classmates, who had a lot to say about him. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/matt-gaetz-high-school-niceville-alumni-debate-facebook-2021-4"></a><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/matt-gaetz-high-school-niceville-alumni-debate-facebook-2021-4?r=gaetz-teaser">Read the full story here. </a></h2>

Meet the people who knew Matt Gaetz as a high schooler

Good morning! <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/10-things-in-politics">If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.</a> Send tips to <a href="mailto:bgriffiths@insider.com">bgriffiths@insider.com</a> or tweet me <a href="https://twitter.com/BrentGriffiths">@BrentGriffiths</a>.Here's what we're talking about today:<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/matt-gaetz-high-school-niceville-alumni-debate-facebook-2021-4">Insider spoke to 21 of Rep. Matt Gaetz's former high-school classmates. Some aren't surprised by the scandal.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-to-sanction-russian-officials-and-entities-for-influencing-election-2021-4">The US is reportedly set to kick out Russian diplomats over election interference and the SolarWinds hack</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-biden-white-house-delaware-bubble-2021-4">How Biden escapes the White House bubble</a></li></ul>1. GAETZ-GATE GOES ON: Some of Rep. Matt Gaetz's high school classmates said they could see a scandal coming. One recalls a 2009 dinner with Gaetz where he pulled out his phone to show off a "definitely sexual" photo. Others say the now Florida congressman was quick to drop his dad's name when he was teenager, sometimes as a thinly veiled threat. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/matt-gaetz-high-school-niceville-alumni-debate-facebook-2021-4">In total, Insider spoke to 21 of Gaetz's classmates.</a>Here's some of what they told my colleagues:<ul><li>A photo of "a private moment" at a wedding rehearsal dinner: Erin Scot said Gaetz appeared to be bragging about his relationship with a woman while showing a photo. Scot described the picture as of a woman "like she was on a bed and maybe as she's looking at the camera like on all fours."</li><li>A debate teammate recalled Gaetz threatening a teammate with his dad's political sway: "He was, like, 'You don't speak like that to me, or I'm going to call my dad and have him call some people at Dartmouth so your admission gets withdrawn," the teammate told Insider.</li></ul>Niceville's class of 2000 alumni page is a hotbed of Gaetz chatter: Moderators of the page have tried to rein it in, though.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/matt-gaetz-high-school-niceville-alumni-debate-facebook-2021-4"><div type="image" title="Matt Gaetz’s high-school classmates have been gossiping about him in a Facebook alumni group." height="1392" width="2604" msid="82082692" hostid="261"></div></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/matt-gaetz-high-school-niceville-alumni-debate-facebook-2021-4">Read more in our exclusive report.</a>More headaches for Gaetz: Joel Greenberg, the congressman's former confidant,<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/matt-gaetzs-wingman-paid-dozens-of-young-womenand-a-17-year-old?ref=home?ref=home"> made 150 Venmo payments to dozens of young women</a>, including to someone who was 17 at the time, The Daily Beast reports. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing, including every paying for sex or having sex with a minor. Gaetz has a unique response planned: <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/14/matt-gaetz-ad-buy-481588">He is making a six-figure ad buy for a spot that attacks CNN</a>. The ad will air in his district and nationally on some cable channels, Politico reports.2. Biden says the decision to end the war in Afghanistan was "absolutely clear": He announced<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-says-time-to-end-americas-longest-war-in-afghanistan-2021-4"> the withdrawal of all US troops by September 11</a>. He was in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-unveils-afghanistan-exit-from-same-room-bush-announced-war-2021-4">the same room where President George W. Bush announced</a> the first strikes of what became America's longest war.<ul><li>Key quote: "I'm now the fourth United States President to preside over American troop presence in Afghanistan: two Republicans, two Democrats. I will not pass this responsibility on to a fifth."</li></ul>Veterans of the war are torn about the decision: "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/14/us/afghanistan-veterans-biden.html?action=click&amp;module=Spotlight&amp;pgtype=HomepageHomepage">There's no easy answer, no victory dance, no 'we were right and they were wrong,"</a> Jason Dempsey, 49, who deployed twice to Afghanistan, told The New York Times.3. Inside how Biden escapes the White House bubble: He has described living in 1600 Penn. as "a little like a gilded cage." But even when Biden leaves D.C. for Delaware, the bubble follows. President Obama once described the experience by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-biden-white-house-delaware-bubble-2021-4">pointing out that the Secret Service tracked his every activity, including bathroom trips.</a>4. The CDC isn't sure yet when the Johnson &amp; Johnson pause will end: An expert panel recommended not lifting the pause yet, citing a need for more data. It's unclear if the vaccine specifically caused six women to develop clots. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cdc-pause-on-johnson-and-johnson-covid-vaccine-to-continue-2021-4">We did learn more about the cases in question.</a><ul><li>Just 3 governors haven't gotten their vaccine: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/governors-covid19-vaccine-restrictions-immunity-pfizer-2021-04">Here's why they're waiting.</a></li></ul><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/governors-covid19-vaccine-restrictions-immunity-pfizer-2021-04"><div type="image" title="Screen Shot 2021 04 15 at 3.19.10 AM" height="1166" width="1456" msid="82082694" hostid="261"></div></a>Airlines rejected CDC guidance to block middle seats: Major carriers like Delta, United, and Southwest deferred comment on the recommendation to a trade group that confirmed they are not advising airlines to reopen the middle seat debate. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/airlines-reject-cdc-report-middle-seat-blocking-2021-4">Delta is the only major carrier still blocking middle seats, but that is scheduled to stop on May 1. </a>5. The US is reportedly set to kick out Russian diplomats over election interference and the SolarWinds hack: The sanctions, which could be announced as soon as today, would apply to roughly a dozen individuals and 20 other entities, Bloomberg News reports. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-to-sanction-russian-officials-and-entities-for-influencing-election-2021-4">The US could expel as many as 10 Russian diplomats.</a>6. Former cop charged with manslaughter in Daunte Wright's death: Former Brooklyn Center officer Kimberly Potter <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-news-death-of-daunte-wright-shootings-police-minnesota-df3e6aba6c750f9b89bab30b46c24f48">was charged with second-degree manslaughter</a>. <ul><li>A more peaceful night in Brooklyn Center: Protesters gathered outside the Minneapolis suburb's police station for the fourth night, but there were some major changes in how things unfolded, the Star Tribune reports. Law enforcement made fewer arrests and did not deploy tear gas. For the second straight night, there were no reports of looting. <a href="https://www.startribune.com/fewer-arrests-calmer-scene-on-fourth-night-of-brooklyn-center-protests/600046035/">More on what happened.</a></li></ul>7. The top things for your calendar, all times Eastern: <ul><li>10:15 a.m.: Derek Chauvin's trial resumes</li><li>10:45 a.m.: Speaker Pelosi's weekly news conference</li><li>11:30 a.m.: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's weekly news conference</li><li>12:30 p.m.: Jen Psaki holds the White House's daily news briefing</li><li>1:00 p.m.: The Capitol Police watchdog testifies about the January 6 insurrection</li><li>2:00 p.m.: Biden and Vice President Harris meet with the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Executive Committee</li></ul>8. Senate votes overwhelmingly to move forward on hate crime legislation: "Led by Democrats Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Rep. Grace Meng of New York, the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act will require federal officers to 'facilitate the expedited review' of hate crimes." A 92-6 vote brings the legislation closer to passing, but there could still be some difficulties. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gop-senators-voted-against-bipartisan-bill-anti-asian-hate-crimes-2021-4">Here are the six Republicans that voted against it.</a><ul><li>Meanwhile in the House: The House Judiciary Committee approved a bill establishing a commission on reparations, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/house-committee-approves-bill-to-study-reparations-for-black-americans-2021-4">and the proposal will now receive a full House vote for the first time since it was introduced 32 years ago</a>. The House Oversight and Reform Committee voted to move forward on making DC the 51st state - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/house-committee-approves-bill-make-dc-america-51-state-2021-4">that legislation is expected to pass the House next week.</a></li></ul><div type="image" title="Bernie Madoff" height="1500" width="3000" msid="82082696" hostid="261"></div>9. Bernie Madoff's legacy of historic fraud: Madoff carried out the biggest Ponzi scheme in US history before going to prison in 2009. He died of apparent natural causes at 82 years old, the AP reports. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-madoff-financier-turned-ponzi-scheme-criminal-dies-2020-2">More on what he leaves behind.</a>10. Almost perfect: "Through eight innings, White Sox pitcher Rodon faced 24 batters from the Cleveland Indians, and none of them got further than stepping up to home plate." But the ninth spelled the end of his perfect game. <a href="https://www.insider.com/carlos-rodon-no-hitter-perfect-game-hit-by-pitch-2021-4">How the final crazy inning unfolded.</a>One last thing.Today's trivia question: Today marks the anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier. But do you know what president was the inspiration for this middle name? Email your guess and a suggested question to me at <a href="mailto:bgriffiths@insider.com">bgriffiths@insider.com</a>.<ul><li>Yesterday's answer: The caucus room of the Russell Senate Office building was <a href="https://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_item/titanic.htm">inaugurated by the Titanic hearings</a>, the gripping investigation into the demise of the "unsinkable ship." For a more light-hearted marking of the anniversary, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP5bu9hLH9E">check out SNL's interview with the iceberg.</a></li></ul>

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Meet the people who knew Matt Gaetz as a high schooler

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10 Things in Politics: Matt Gaetz classmates dish on his past

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